Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos,
Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has spoken out on the divorce crisis brewing between
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his wife Reverent Anita.
Okogie in an interview with the Sunday
Vanguard described the situation as very disturbing. Read the rest of the
story as published by the newspaper:
“When the going was good, they
took vows on the altar of God to stay together in sickness and in health, until
death do them part. They promise to make one another faithful partner in the
presence of God, their family and friends and vow to be each other’s faithful
partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well
as in sorrow. They promise to love one another unconditionally, to support each
other, honor and respect and cherish themselves for as long as they both shall
live,” Okogie said.
The cardinal argued that as soon
as little challenges arise, the so-called pastors forget the vow and the spirit
of forgiveness they preach to their congregations on daily basis and opt for
divorce. “It shows that they cannot live by what they preach. The Bible says:
‘What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.’ So why are they putting
asunder what the good Lord has joined together if they are men of God as they
claim?”
When asked by the paper what the
development portrays for the Church of God, the Okogie replied with a question
“What Church are you talking about?” He went on: “It is not good. Are they true
pastors? Good shepherds of the Lord are expected to do everything to shepherd
their flock including their spouses even when they err. If God forgave us in
spite of our filth, why can any man who is truly called pastor not forgive any
malfeasance?”
Okogie blamed the Corporate
Affairs Commission, CAC, which registers every organization which goes about
deceiving people in the name of church, noting that there are several “useless”
institutions that have been registered churches which are currently painting
the Church of God in bad light.
In the same vein, Publicity
Secretary of God’s Kingdom Society, GKS, Brother Benedict Hart says the nation
is yet to see anything, noting that the number of such divorce is small
relative to the number of church pastors in Nigeria. He, however, stated that
divorces are getting too frequent for comfort, saying the reason for rising
number of divorce cases is better answered by church leaders themselves.
“Be that as it may, the same
issues that bedevil other marriages also affect church pastors: failure of
either or two of the parties to the marriage to adhere to Biblical principles –
that they are to support or help one another in the race of salvation with the
man at the head. (Genesis 2:18, 21-24; Ephesians 5:22-24, 25, 28,29; Colossians
3:18,19) Incompatibility of couples, marrying not on grounds of economic
prospects rather than on the qualities of each person.
“It must be said that divorce is
contrary to the will of God. The Bible makes no room for divorce; the couple
ought to find way of settling their problems (Matthew 19:4-9; Malachi
2:15-16)”, the GKS publicist explained, adding that, in several cases, the man
increasingly ignores the woman, fails to provide for her, becomes promiscuous.
He outlined another source of
friction in marriages to include childlessness, adding that after several years
of marriage without having an issue, the man or the woman, or even two of them
may agree to opt out of the union with the hope of getting children elsewhere.
“In several new breed churches,
the man and woman started the church from humble beginnings, but when the
economy improves, one party feels the other no longer meets his or her social
status. Again a number of these pastors know what they had been doing to win
converts: resort to stage-managed miracles, making of imaginary prophecies,
late night sessions with witch doctors, selling of “holy water”, candles, oil,
with supposed healing powers, etc. By the time the church becomes large, the
woman would naturally want a larger share of the pie. When the man becomes
cagey, would not be forthcoming on the finances of the church, she may want to
leave and use the same methods they used to establish their church to open her
own”, Hart said.
“A big problem with the
Pentecostal is that the churches are made to look like social clubs with only a
Christian veneer or covering. The leaders tell the people what they want to
hear, preaching mostly about prosperity, donations, miracles, marriages, etc.
They do not know what the gospel of the kingdom is. Moreover the leaders flaunt
their wealth and allow the women to dress licentiously and use make up
excessively, on the ground that it is the heart God sees not the dress.
“Many times the young women wear
skimpy clothes, transparent, and skin-tight wears that expose their bodies. And
they do not cover their heads. Then where lies moderation, shamefacedness,
orderliness and decency? (1 Timothy 2:9,10; 1 Peter 3:1-6), A number of the
pastors are thus tempted and this results in crisis in their home fronts.”
The divorce Suit No FD14D01650 was
filed on April 9, 2014 at Divorce Section A, Central Family Court, First Avenue
House, High Holborn, London, UK, on Anita’s behalf by Attwaters Jameson Hill
Solicitors, a full-service law firm with expertise in commercial law and a
strong consumer focus in family, wills and estate, personal injury law and
medical negligence is the latest of such cases involving Nigerian pastors.
Efforts to reconcile the popular couple, whose church is one of the biggest
denominations in Nigeria and has branches all over world, have failed.
Several other ministers of the
gospel including the son of the founder of TBN, the largest Christian network
in the world, Pastor Paul Crouch Jr., Rev. Benny Hinn, Pastor John Hagee,
Bishop David Benenoch of the Communion Church, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of Trinity
House, Pastor Chris Okotie, have at one time or the other been enmeshed in
divorce issues.
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